Page 120 of Fought and Freed

As his mouth covered hers with hunger, all Maddy could do was hold on while Ryder kissed the life out of her.

When he pulled back, Maddy’s eyes fluttered open, and she found Ryder staring at her. “God, you are beautiful, Silk. I’m so damn lucky to have found you.”

“I’m glad I found you.” Her pulse raced with the desire to be with him. “What do you say we finish this up and head home?”

He bit her bottom lip. “I like that idea.”

Ryder grabbed the doorknob, then jerked his hand back.

Maddy’s eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s hot.” He took the end of his shirt and used it to protect his hand as he grabbed the knob.

When he flung open the door, the whole place was engulfed in flames.

“No!” Maddy cried. “All our hard work! It’s gone.”

Ryder quickly grabbed the door and shut them back inside the closet, blocking out the worst of the heat.

Ryder pulled his phone from his pocket. “No service. That’s strange. Maddy, do you have your phone?”

“Yeah.” She reached into her back pocket and pulled it out. “It says no service. How is that possible? We had service here earlier.”

The smoke snaked its way into the storage room, and Maddy coughed.

Ryder took off his shirt and stuffed it under the door before looking around. “We need to get out of here.”

“How?” she asked with panic in her voice. “That window is too small for us to get through.”

This was Mike’s doing. He wanted Maddy to burn, just like Nikki did.

Ryder grabbed both of her shoulders. “Maddy, you need to get through that window.”

She shook her head. “Not without you. Someone must have seen the fire by now.”

He squeezed her shoulders. “Do you hear any sirens? Because I don’t. I need you to go get help.”

“How can I do that?” She coughed as the smoke worsened, the shirt Ryder stuffed under the door no longer working. “The phones don’t work, it’s late, and there’s nobody around.”

“Someone has to be jamming our phones. Once you get far enough out of range, call for help.” He pulled her over to the wall with the window. “Please, Maddy.” Ryder coughed. “There’s no other way.”

Tears streamed down her cheeks. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Ryder grabbed the easel they came in for and broke the window. After he quickly cleared the glass, he turned back to her. “You can do this.”

She hugged and kissed him, then he helped her reach the window. She got her arms out, but her breasts stuck.

“Wait a minute.” She shifted right, pulled out her left breast, then did the same with her right.

As she wiggled around, a sharp pain stabbed into her left side where some of the glass must still be caught in the frame, but she gritted her teeth through it. She needed to get help.

She placed her hand on the wall and shoved, but only made it a few more inches before her body wouldn’t budge. “I’m stuck. My hips are too damn wide.”

“This is going to hurt,” Ryder warned. “I’m sorry.”

He pushed hard on her ass, and she slid forward. As she did, the glass on the left side of the windowsill cut her hip. She bit her tongue against the pain. If she screamed, Ryder would stop, then they’d both be dead.

She was hanging halfway out when Ryder gave her a big shove, and she fell to the ground in a heap. She looked down at her left side, where a long gash ran from her waist down to her thigh, and a piece of glass stuck out of her leg.

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